Drive
by Annber03
Summary: Daphne's spontaneous trip gives her plenty of time to think about her current predicament. Missing scene of sorts from episode 7x21 ("The Three Faces of Frasier").


Daphne had always believed herself to be a little on the eccentric side.

Surely, she thought as she gazed at the passing road sign, her actions this evening had to have confirmed that belief once and for all.

She was driving to Oregon. To the city of Portland, to be more exact.

At six-thirty in the evening.

For oat bran cereal.

For Dr. Crane.

 _Yep. Very much the definition of "eccentric", right there._

In her defense, though, she hadn't planned on making such a long trip. No, this was a drive borne solely out of a complete lack of other options. Had she just been able to find the one thing she wanted, right in the place it always used to be, all of this could've been avoided.

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't sell that oat bran anymore?!"

Daphne scanned the rows of various cereal boxes yet again. Second store she'd been to this afternoon and here she was, getting the same response. Surely this was a mistake. Surely they just meant to say they were _temporarily_ out.

"Just what I told you, lady. It's not here anymore." The young man sounded bored as he continued putting items on the shelves.

"But that's absurd! I've brought that cereal here many times before!" Daphne barely even registered the high pitch in her voice. As the old saying went, the customer was right, damn it. She wouldn't make this up.

"Well, now you can't. Our store doesn't stock it anymore. That _does_ happen from time to time, you know." The employee glared at Daphne before pulling his cart of boxes down the aisle.

She bristled at his snotty attitude, but followed along. "Now see here, young man, I don't appreciate your tone. I have half a mind to speak to your manager - "

"You can." He pointed to a spot behind Daphne. She turned, clamping her mouth shut at the sight of the woman making her way towards them. _My goodness. That is some frizzy-looking hair._

"Is there a problem here?" the woman asked. Daphne leaned forward slightly to glance at her name tag. _Melissa._

"This lady's looking for a type of cereal. I've tried to tell her we don't sell it here," the man complained before finding a spot to shelve more items.

Daphne took a second to calm herself. _Just be polite._ She described the particular brand she was looking for.

"Ah, yes," Melissa said, sounding a little confused. She was probably wondering why this strange woman was so bent out of shape about cereal. "Well, he's right, ma'am, our store doesn't carry that particular brand anymore."

"Don't call me ma'am – uh, I mean...do you know of another store where I can find it?" Daphne said, trying to keep her voice sweet. If she had to speak in this fake pleasant tone any longer she was going to scream. She wasn't about to go home empty-handed now. Not after she'd spent all afternoon trekking around town.

"I'm afraid not." Melissa shifted slightly, being careful with her words. "it's not sold _anywhere_ in Washington state anymore. As far as I know, Oregon's the only state in this part of the country where you can find it." She flinched slightly at the look of sheer disbelief that immediately appeared on Daphne's face.

"But what about us customers? My boss eats this every day! It's important for his health!"

There was that high pitch again. Now she was starting to attract the attention of other people wandering through the store.

Melissa shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry. it's out of our hands. Is there something else we can find for you instead?" She tried to appear sympathetic, but that only served to annoy Daphne further.

"Oh...just...forget it, then," she said, brushing past the young man as she stormed out of the store.

 _Now what?_

* * *

An hour later, and she was still asking herself that question. What if she got to Oregon and something happened and _they'd_ stopped selling the cereal as well?

 _This is so stupid. How the hell can one entire state stop selling a product? There's fifty friggin' states in this country, for God's sakes. Surely there's enough oat bran to go around for all of them!_

Daphne drew in a deep breath. _Wow. Okay. Settle down. It's not those poor workers' fault, you know that._

What in the world was getting her all agitated? She was pretty certain she was close to jamming the gas pedal straight into the floorboard at this point. And considering the way it was pouring outside – _of course it is, it's Washington, when's it ever **not** bloody pouring rain?_ – Daphne figured she should probably ease up on the gas a little.

Tired as she was of the rain, though, at least it fit her current mood. She rolled the window down just a smidge, letting the cool evening air and the continuous _pitter-patter_ sound filter in. Within a few minutes, her tension seemed to ease some.

 _Maybe this drive wasn't such a bad idea after all._ It _was_ nice to _finally_ have a bit of time alone. Maybe that's what had gotten her all irritable today. Lord knew she'd been feeling a little…claustrophobic lately. Shaky, too. Not "shaky" in the physical sense, not really, more like…rattled. _Yes. Rattled. That's the word._

Odd, though, she hadn't felt that way this morning. Quite the contrary, Daphne had felt just fine. She'd spent a lovely morning with Donny (due in no small part to a nice round of sex upon waking up), and brightened even more at the news that he was working on writing his vows.

He seemed to be cutting it close a bit, she'd thought, writing them out just a couple weeks before the wedding. She had hers ready to go a mere week after Donny proposed. Still, though, some people were quite good at composing speeches off the cuff. The doctors Crane certainly had a knack for that, after all. Donny may not have been a poet, but he _was_ a lawyer, and they knew how to come up with some pretty passionate speeches when needed.

Besides, it's not like she needed the words to _rhyme_ or anything. If Donny could make his vows sound anything like his beautiful proposal, that'd be more than enough to make her happy.

That proposal was a year ago, she realized. _Has it really been that long?_ Funny, they hadn't been together long before he'd asked her to marry him – only just around three months. Yet their engagement had lasted a full year.

They'd planned on that, though. They'd had a long talk that night, agreeing that they didn't want to rush their engagement or their wedding. Better to continue to take things slow, they figured, let them have even more time to get to know each other.

 _Should've done that before he'd proposed in the first place._

Daphne's eyes widened. _Oh, no._ Was she hearing voices? She hoped it wasn't her mum. _Barging in, as always._

 _No. No, it wasn't her._ Daphne let out a sigh of relief. Seemed it was just her mind wandering. Again. Still no less annoying.

"You don't know what you're talking about." she said out loud, her voice seeming to echo a bit in the otherwise empty car. She paused, glancing in the rear view mirror. "No, you don't. There are people who've known each other for years before getting married and their relationships didn't work out." _Just look at the doctors Cranes' marriages._ Her lips thinned at that particular thought.

Besides, she couldn't exactly blame Donny for wanting to take things slow. She'd heard about his failed relationship with Roz, about how it ended six months in because he wanted a family, and Roz wasn't ready.

 _Only six months in with Roz, and he was already eager for a family._ That fact had unnerved Daphne a little when Roz mentioned it to her, but at the time, she wasn't quite sure why. Now she understood.

But Donny had learned from that experience, though. That's why he wanted to be sure she was on the same page with him about the big things before jumping in this time. She'd wanted to take things slow with Donny, too, after all, even before his proposal. She had her own history of falling in love too fast, rushing in headlong into relationships, and she'd always seemed to get her heart broken eventually.

So she was more than happy to let this relationship go at its own pace. It wasn't like Donny was pressuring her or anything like that. In fact, when he'd proposed, he specifically told her that she could take the time to think about her answer.

 _But I didn't need that extra time. I'd already thought it over before he even asked me. I made the choice to agree to marry him. He was just being a spontaneous romantic._

Daphne had never been used to spontaneity in her relationships. Most of her boyfriends were pretty low-key with their interests and gifts and getaway plans, and often forgetful when it came to a lot of the important celebrations and days in their relationship.

 _Not Donny, though. He remembered everything._ She was pretty certain she'd had him trained in regards knowing the "who's who's" and "what's what's" involving her crazy family by now. He was also familiar with all her favorite songs, her stories about her childhood, what kinds of romantic gestures swept her off her feet.

 _He also knew your feelings on raunchy bachelor parties, and yet.._

"That was Doctor Crane's stupid idea," Daphne muttered, rolling her eyes. Frasier never _could_ just leave well enough alone.

 _But Donny was still willing to go along with it._

Her grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel. That whole mess with the secret bachelor party seemed to be just the latest in a long string of stressful wedding-related issues. Grabbing the wrong wedding dress, fighting with both Dr. Crane _and_ her mum over control of what she wanted at the ceremony, Mr. Crane wanting to have some of the same things she'd planned for her wedding as part of his freaking funeral, whenever that day came, having to settle for a mortician to do her makeup… Sure, Daphne wasn't naive enough to think wedding planning was a breeze, but goodness, she was going to be so relieved when her wedding day came and she didn't have to worry about all this ridiculousness anymore.

 _Eh, well. It's all probably meant to be one of those things Donny and I can look back on and laugh about someday._ If she could even think that far ahead right now, that is.

A sign up ahead drew Daphne out of her thoughts. The city lights of Portland were straight ahead of her. _About time._ She put all her thoughts about Donny and her wedding aside, and began keeping an eye out for supermarkets.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Daphne's mood had considerably brightened. She'd just left Portland a short time ago, grocery bag, complete with cereal, resting in the seat next to her. _Success!_ The Cranes would probably think her rather daft when she explained to them where she'd been, going all that way for something so simple. _But it's the thought that counts, right?_

 _Except you didn't leave because of Doctor Crane. Well, not because of the **elder** Doctor Crane, that is._

"...stop it." God, but her thoughts were relentless tonight. As if her head didn't feel crowded enough, now thoughts of _Niles_ had to barge in there, too?

 _"Your eyes? Your eyes are not dull. They're, they're…warm, and, uh…full of life."_

Daphne shivered at the memory of his voice. It was almost as strong as the shiver she'd felt this afternoon, she'd noticed, when Niles' eyes were upon her.

 _"You have beautiful eyes, too."_

She winced at her response. _Really? That was all I could think to say in return?_

 _Well, why not? It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything. I don't have any right to tell him how sparkling **his** blue eyes are, or how lovely his smile is. Or that I might have –_

 _HONK!_

Daphne jumped, startled at the noise. There was a car behind her, eager to pass. She glared into the rear view mirror.

"All right, all right, keep your pants on…" She continued muttering to herself as she moved into the next lane, allowing the other driver ahead.

 _Snap out of it, Daphne. You won't make it home in one piece at this point, with the way you're carrying on. Forget Doctor Crane. Think of Donny. Think of how you saw your soon to be married name today. Mrs. Donny Douglas. Doesn't that sound nice? Mrs. Donald Ronald Douglas._

 _Mrs. Nil – oh, bloody hell._

Yep This was bad. No way she could chalk these thoughts up to mere fear, not anymore. She was well used to what fear felt like – she'd experienced it when her first boyfriend proposed, and again years later when she'd gotten engaged to Clive. Many people felt afraid before getting married. Who wouldn't? That was perfectly normal.

These current feelings of hers, however...these were different. And very much _not_ normal. She certainly didn't recall having somebody else on her mind when she was with previous boyfriends, or Clive. Pretty sure thinking of somebody else was a big no-no for somebody about to get married.

Yet here she was, thinking about Niles. A _lot_.

The reason he was on her mind was obvious, of course. Here he was, her best friend, and she'd recently learned he'd secretly been harboring romantic feelings for her. For six years at that! How could she not dwell on something that dramatic involving somebody so close to her?

 _That's not the only reason you're thinking about him, though. You know that._

Daphne sighed in acknowledgement. Yes, she did know. Sure, when she'd first met Niles, she'd found him a bit on the fussy side, but she'd had to learn to adjust to the entire Crane family in general, so that was nothing new.

But just as she'd come to love Mister and Doctor Crane, she'd also found herself becoming quite fond of Niles, too. He was kind, thoughtful, and never without a sweet compliment whenever he saw her. He became a trusted confidant, someone whom she'd come to many a time with her problems, no matter how big or small.

And for as cautious and reserved as he could be, Niles also had a surprisingly fun side that came out every now and then. Their night together dancing it up at the Snow Ball a number of years back was among Daphne's most cherished memories. Just the mere thought of that evening brought a smile to her face even now.

 _He was quite generous with the compliments that night, too, come to think of it. And his confession of love! It made so much sense now! He wasn't acting. If I'd realized then...what would I have done? Acting or not, I did kiss him that night, after all._

 _And_ she'd kissed him despite the fact she was with Joe then to boot. _Hm._ Apparently being drawn to Niles while in a relationship wasn't quite as unusual as she'd believed.

The more Daphne thought about Niles, the harder it was to stop smiling. Yes. He had many wonderful qualities indeed. He was smart, too. So very smart. Even when she didn't understand the references he made, which, admittedly, was quite often, she enjoyed hearing them anyway. He took pride in his intellect, was always eager to learn something new, had a natural curiosity about the world around him. That was always an admirable trait in a man.

And, yeah, even as his friend, she could admit it: he _was_ attractive. Tall and lean, with soft, fair hair, always looking so dashing in his blazers and suits and dress shirts. That adorably boyish smile of his, that little twinkle in those gorgeous blue eyes. Those gentle hands that, lately, she'd found herself daring to imagine cupping her face, holding her close, stroking her hair, her arms –

Well, maybe she should stop there.

That last fantasy often tended to blend with her memories of that night she was at his place during the heat wave. The way he'd looked that evening...at the time, she'd simply chalked up her... _intense_...interest in him to a combination of the extreme heat and general sexual frustration getting the better of her.

But of course, that clearly wouldn't explain why those same intense feelings regarding him were resurfacing _now_. Daphne's face heated as she shifted slightly in her seat, rolling the window down a little further. _Getting a bit warm in here._

Just then, she encountered a line of cars stopped ahead of her, forcing her to slow and stop as well. She welcomed the sudden traffic jam, though, briefly closing her eyes as she took in all the images and thoughts bouncing around her head. It was time to be honest with herself. She knew exactly what these constant thoughts about Niles meant, she'd known for some time. What she didn't know was what she should _do_ about them.

As Daphne continued to wait in her car, she decided to kill the time, and distract herself, by focusing on the road signs a little ways ahead.

In one direction lay Seattle. Her home. The place where Donny was. The place where the Cranes were.

 _The place where Niles is._ Another shiver.

In the other direction was...well, any number of places. _Gee, maybe I should just drive somewhere else._ She chuckled at the thought, but the more she considered it, the more enticing it started to sound. _Could I do it? Could I really just...run away? Not permanently, but just for a little while? Just so I can sort things out?_

She began to weigh the possibilities before her. There were so many options to choose from! She could travel to a whole other part of Washington. Go east to Idaho and keep driving, moving on to the Midwest, eventually making it all the way out to the east coast. She'd always used to dream of seeing New York City when she was a little girl...

 _Or I could turn around, head south and go to California._ It always seemed such a beautiful state, with all those beaches and palm trees. _And it'd be a damn sight nicer in terms of weather, too._

Hell, if she _really_ wanted to be adventurous, she could leave the country altogether. Head straight to Canada and start anew. That option was shot down as fast as it came about, though. _I'd need my papers and passport..._

Daphne drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. _So tempting…_

She turned to quickly check if the map was in the glove compartment, only to catch sight of the grocery sack in the passenger seat. A pang of guilt shot through her at the sight.

 _Then again, making sure Doctor Crane has his cereal is rather important. And he, Mister Crane, and Donny will surely send out a search party if I don't get home soon. God knows I've already been gone long enough._

 _Niles would worry, too._

That settled it.

The traffic was starting to clear and move ahead now. Daphne resumed her drive, following the sign pointing her back towards Seattle.

* * *

 _Reviews/critiques/etc. are appreciated!_


End file.
